The Flower
by Marie Allen
Summary: My twist on the relationship between Persephone and Hades. Not everything is at it seems... Chapter Two posted
1. Prologue

**_The Flower_  
By: Marie Allen  
Prologue**

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"Oh, yes!"

"Oh, yes!"

The sun kissed the earth and danced on the nearby glistening stream. Flowers adorned the sides and smiled and gleamed down at their reflections as if unaware of the nearby commotion or the possibility of being plucked or, at this time, smashed.

A soft, girlish giggle danced in the tall leaves. Hands intertwined. Whispers were uttered. The two small figures crouched in a circular patch with the tall bushes surrounding them. Their heads were close together as their soft voices gossiped about the handsome stranger that they had just seen.

"He was terribly handsome, wasn't he?" The young girl put her hand over her mouth and giggled again. She had never seen a man before. Being around her own nymph kind almost guaranteed it.

"Shush! He's coming back!" Indeed he was. The man was tall and muscular and to the two virgin pair of eyes, something they wouldn't even dream about even in their soon-to-be ripe age of puberty. His thick black hair shined underneath the sun. The material of his clothing clung to him, making him appear large. Or maybe it was just their innocence that made them think so. They had no idea who the man was or why he was even in their land. This was a pure and untouched land; no man was ever to set foot here. And yet this stranger walked about as if he knew the area.

He walked by them, about ten yards away. Believing they were completely covered by the bushes, they stayed silent regardless and watched him in silence. They had no idea if they would ever see another.

i If all men looked thusly/i the eldest girl thought, i then I have no idea what Mother worries about. /i Her mother had been putting thoughts into her that men only had one thing they wanted from women and it was never good. This man suddenly challenged that though.

As if on cue, the man stopped and turned to the two girls. Staring straight at them, they both held their breaths as they stared back like deer caught in a hunter's view. The man smirked at them, raised an elite eyebrow and then continued on his way. A moment later, he was gone. The two friends looked at each other before breaking into fits of giggles.

"He looked right at me!"

"Who do you think he was?"

The eldest giggled again. "I haven't the faintest, but I know it won't be the last time I see him."

The younger nymph laughed and pushed her friend. "How do you know that? You're no oracle!"

"No. But just call it women's intuition."

The girl laughed. "Yes, if you were a woman!"

* * *

Years had passed since that most memorable event of seeing the strange man. Although she had promised her friend that she would see him again, Persephone had not. And she had looked. She had met many men since that day, for it was the day that she decided she would indeed become a woman and no longer the child her mother wanted her to be.

She adored her mother, Demeter, but she also loved her freedom. She loved wandering around the springs and forest alone. She loved watching people and what they did during their daily lives. Humans fascinated her. They were so different from the gods. There was something about them that she couldn't fathom. Something that her family of gods couldn't relate to. She just didn't know what that was.

She had been around humans longer than she had the gods. Being with the nymphs and her mother her whole childhood left her thinking that what separated the immortals from the mortals was their appetite for sex. And so, fascinated with these creatures, she had followed suit and fell into their hunger. And it was absolutely marvelous. She felt disillusioned when she discovered the gods and their own need for the pleasures of the flesh but instead of holding back, she reveled in it even more. She hungered for something that she had not yet found. Sure, she had known many men, but none had actually completely saited her. Probably why she treated all of the earth men the same as the other gods. She didn't particularly like using them, but they were using her as well. After all, she was the supposed virgin daughter of the great Earth goddess. Who wouldn't want to bed her?

Now, if her mother knew of her supposed chaste daughter's ways, Persephone knew that she wouldn't hear the end of it. Her mother would never cease her wailing. She did love her mother, though, and she respected her. She played her game when her mother was nearby, but once she had the wind at her back, she was her own woman.

A growingly frustrated woman at that.

Because no man had completely ceased her need, she was beginning to wonder what all of this brew-ha-ha was about. Years she had been playing with men, learning new techniques and teaching others, and yet she had still never been completely satisfied. There was something missing, something untouchable, something she had not yet experienced. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it wasn't sex. The gods knew that she most certainly loved the act, but that intangible entity was feeding her frustration. Would she ever find that unknowing goal she herself didn't even know?

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_To be continued...  
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	2. Chapter One

**The Flower  
By: Marie Allen  
Chapter One**

* * *

Persephone stretched her legs out in front of her as she gazed up at the clouds above her. It was another gorgeous day and she had decided to spend it alone until she had to go up to Olympus with her mother. She hated going up there. She would never admit it to anyone for fear of being thunderbolted, but the gods annoyed her to no end. Even if she was being hypocritical since she herself was one of them, she really couldn't stand being around them. She much preferred to be alone instead of dealing with them all her immortal life.

If her mother had done one thing right, she had kept her away from all of those annoying gods and goddesses. She wasn't raised with them. In a way, she was sort of her own type of goddess. At least, she would like to think so. But that annoying voice in the back of her head told her otherwise. She grew bored easily just like the others. She enjoyed physical pleasures. She loved change. But her heart spoke against that voice. No, she countered back. She took pleasure in the little things that the gods and goddesses of her kind did not. She appreciated the things in nature that they all overlooked. Like the passing of the clouds. The call of the bugs at night. The sound of the rivers racing over rounded rocks. Maybe it was because she was still a young goddess that she felt so out of place, or maybe it was because she had been so sheltered for so long. Fighting bored her, vengeance bored her, even sex was starting to bore her. Everything was so repetitive. Someone pisses you off, you get revenge. You piss them back, they get revenge. It was an endless cycle. She never got caught up in it, but just hearing about it...bleh. It was boring.

For the first time in ages, she began to think about the mysterious man she had seen in the clearing that one day when she was young. Even now she knew not who he was. Or why he had been there. Even Mother had denied that any man had been in Artemis's grove. Her eyes had not deceived her, nor had they her friend's. She couldn't remember that much about him any more, but he still fascinated her. There was something about him that was different than any other man she had ever met, God and Human alike.

Maybe he had just been a figment created in her overactive imagination, embedded somewhere in her childhood fantasies.

Oh well.

Sighing, she sat up. Ignoring the imprint of her body left in the grass, she walked along the sides of the river, feeling particularly lonely. She really didn't have anyone to talk to. There was no in between here. The nymphs were too naïve and innocent, and the other goddesses were too arrogant and bigheaded. Normally when she felt this way, she would seek the company of some boy from a city-they were definitely more inclined to know how to attempt to please a woman than some lonely farm boy-but she had no interest in it. The empty lacking feeling grew too strong afterwards. She'd rather refrain from sex than deal with an even stronger feeling of it.

She tossed a pebble into the water and watch it roll away as it got caught in the current. She wondered what it would be like to be able to just move with the current like that. She felt stuck here. Like the trees. But at least the trees had patience. She was getting restless.

As she started back for home, an odd feeling came over her. The kind of feeling people got when they were being watched. Frowning deeply, she looked around for anything out of the ordinary. Unless someone was up in the trees, she was alone. Shrugging it off, she started away again, passing the very eyes that had been watching.

* * *

"Mother, must we stay any longer? I feel I'm growing rather tired."

Demeter smiled lovingly at her only child. Gently touching her cheek, she placed a kiss upon her daughter's forehead. "Darling, you know that Mother cannot up and leave. It would be too disrespectful to Lady Hera." Hera was throwing a rather elegant party in the celebration of her pregnancy. Persephone would have rolled her eyes if she could. She knew full well that this 'party' wasn't for the unborn god or goddess, but for her herself. A sort of announcement that Zeus had finally decided to keep his dick pointed at his wife long enough for it, no doubt.

"Then may I return home? I don't think she will miss me much, Mother. And I do believe she would take insult if I were to fall asleep here at her party." Put that way, Demeter didn't put up too much of a fight afterwards. However, it did take her quite a while to tell her the complete list of Dos and Don'ts. Do go straight up, don't talk to any strangers, do go right to bed... It was times like this that her mother pissed her off.

Of course, she didn't go home. She was strayed by the sudden scent of the freshly blossomed flowers. Unable to resist the sudden urge to make a flower crown, she began to pick them. A small giggle bubbled up inside of her. She felt so young again, making flower crowns. She hadn't made them in ages. And yet, some childlike need took hold of her. It was the first time she felt to somewhat enjoy herself in too long.

Her experienced fingers quickly fashioned the crown. It was pretty, but it lacked something. Bending to pluck one last flower, another caught her eyes. It was larger than the others that she had just put together and a deep crimson. It was unlike any other flower she had ever seen before. How was that even possible? She knew that seeds were carried in the wind and that it was entirely probable that this beauty was actually a foreign blossom. She hesitated before plucking it from the ground. She didn't want to pick something so beautiful, but if taken care of, she would be able to find out just where it had come from. Once the crown was finished, she placed it on her head before walking towards the river to peak at her reflection. She didn't feel the earth move just yet, but when she heard the awful cracking of the crust opening up, she spun on her heel in surprise.

The quick movement of her spinning caused her to fall to the ground as the vibrations shook even more. Persephone dropped the crown as another terrible fracture deafened her. She quickly tried to gain her balance, but just as she stood, four mighty black horses popped out of the Earth. Staring at them in shock, she stayed a moment too long before her body took hold of her mind and she ran. But it was too late. Something thick snaked around her, pulling her off of the ground. Her only reaction was to scream and kick at the mountain that was holding onto her, scratching at whatever it was that held her.

Dust, dirt, grass, and hair blinded her. Still screaming, she continued to fight as she felt herself descending into darkness.

"Let me go! You're going to regret this! Let me go, now!" She continued to fight, kicking and screaming the still unmoving brute that held her captive. She repeated herself, but the longer and further they moved down, the more helpless she felt. Where was she?

She stopped screaming the moment they landed on solid ground. With an oof, she was set on the ground but her upper arm was still being held tightly. To keep her from running away, no doubt. Spinning around to the monster that held her, she moved back her leg kicked him as hard as she could on his shin. Useless. There was nothing both solid muscle there. "How dare you!"

"How dare me indeed," was a deep response. He was a low tenor and his voice echoed both in her and in the empty cavern they were in. "Have I hurt you? No. So I think it would be nice of you to stop kicking at me."

Persephone couldn't see his face, but his voice had taken her by surprise. She had been expecting some sort of underworld monster to be in front of her. Although she couldn't see his face in the darkness, she knew he was no monster. At least not physically. "Nice!" she shrieked. "You abducted me!"

She could hear his smirk which was followed by a snap of his fingers. A stringy looking creature scurried up to him, his head bowed. "My lord?"

"See to it that the horses are fed and the carriage cleaned." Another bow was given by the creature and he immediately scampered to his lord's beckoning.

Realization finally dawned on her. Only one man was feared in this world. "You're Hades!"

He laughed at her. "A prize for the lady!"

She struggled again but it was futile. He didn't budge. "Let me go!"

Hades sighed as he began to walk into his castle. "You've been saying that for some time now. For someone so bright, I would imagine that you would be able to figure out the answer by now."

She scoffed at him, walking only with him because she had to. "Where are you taking me?"

"To your room, of course."

She looked up at the god in disgust. "You kidnap me to stuff me in a room. What am I, a ransom?"

He bent his head close to her and slightly arched an eyebrow at her, but didn't answer. She made a sound of disgust towards him, but didn't ask anymore questions. It was obvious to her that he wasn't going to answer her. She'd rather save her breath. It seemed like it was going to take a beating to get anything out of him. Great.

Hades opened the door to the room he had prepared for her and ushered her in and released her arm once he had the door closed. He stood between her and her only way for escape. "I think you should find this room rather pleasant."

She looked around in repugnance. The room was completely black and silver. There was no color, no windows. A heavy foreboding feeling hung in the air. It seemed more like an empty design rather than a bedroom. "What's pleasant about it?" she finally mumbled.

"Why, it has the finest furniture in my world. It was crafted especially for you." Persephone wasn't sure if she should have revolted at the idea or appreciative. Wait, appreciative about what? He had just confessed that he had pre-planned to kidnap her.

"What's so wonderful about black? It looks like a giant gob of paint. There's no depth."

Hades raise an eyebrow at her. Again. He would never have thought that she would have been criticizing his decoration talents. He had never cared about color coordination. It served as a reminder of where and who he was. What was the use in pretending he wasn't where he would like to be. Which wasn't here.

He had long ago accepted that he would forever be stuck down here and so his morbid humor had taken over. Instead of rejecting the blackness and death, he embraced it and had chosen it as his theme. How fitting was that?

"You're being especially calm after all of this. Especially how you were before."

She gave him a look at that with narrow eyes. "I'm saving my energy." The initial shock of what had happened was starting to lessen. Rationale was starting to take over and she knew that acting like a firekitten wouldn't help her position. She didn't know what his intentions were and she didn't want to make anything worse than what they already were.

"That's a good thing, because you're going to need to keep up your spirit. Souls seem to be sucked out of the living and the weak here."

"I'm not weak," she scoffed.

"Obviously." He rubbed his arm where she had been beating on it on the way down as if to emphasize his point. He couldn't say that he wasn't impressed. He knew that she was different, but never had anyone struck him before. But then again, he'd never given anyone reason to do so before. "I'll let you rest. You're looking pretty dirty and I'm sure you could use a bath. One of my servants will be by shortly to help you." He gave a curt bow and then he was gone.

Persephone stood there in stunned silence. What in Olympus just happened? Sitting on the black bed, she contemplated how this day had been. Hera's party went into the morning, she had left, picked flowers on the way home, and been kidnapped. So, was she a guest or was she a victim? Just what kind of game was he trying to pull? Either way, she wasn't playing. That was for damn sure. She'd do the exact opposite of what he expected. That is, if she could figure out what exactly he was expecting from her.

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_To be continued..._


	3. Chapter Two

_**The Flower**_**  
By: Marie Allen  
Prologue**

Being a goddess, she had no concept of time. But down here, she was unable to even grasp the time of the day. Because of that, she had no idea how long she had been sitting here, laying on the furs and pelts that Hades called 'bed.' Although the furs themselves were soft, the hard piece of stone underneath was exceptionally uncomfortable. And being used to sleeping on soft heaps of grass and even mounds feathers and soft straw that were stuffed in her lovers' mattresses and blankets, she felt no comfort here.

And why would she? Everything was so…black. And dull. And drab. And oh-so-black. Even the furs and pelts were black. Eerie. Sighing, she sat up from the bed and let her feet touch the floor. She wasn't wearing any slippers and the marble was a cold reminder of it. The marble itself was one she had never seen before, which was odd considering she was no stranger in the homes of rich humans.

Hades seemed to have known at least somewhat of the items that the humans found as tasteful; well, at least tasteful to some. To her, it was definitely lacking. The wardrobe in the corner had carved skeletons and scenes of war. Distasteful. The ceiling had images to match. Repugnant. She had never seen war before, but she had seen the aftermath of war, and what it did to the humans. Although Persephone could never know what death or pain was like, she was not blind when she looked upon the suffering humans. She felt sorry for them, but that was the closest to pain that she had ever felt. Some of her kind were able to love, like the love she felt for her mother, but she knew that she would never feel real and true _pain._ How could she? They were immortal. And no pain was worse than death.

There was a small, black, mirrorless table on the other side of the room and she walked over there. Small goosepimples formed on her legs due to the cold floor as she reached to open the only drawer. Maybe there'd be something in here that she could play with?

She slammed the drawer shut. Nothing. With a growl of frustration, the young goddess huffed back to the bed. Fucking Hades. What was he trying to do? Drive her insane? The room was cold, the bed was hard, and the two pieces of furniture had death all over them. Very fitting for the Underworld. She flopped back on the furs with another growl.

"You are displeased, m'lady."

Persephone blinked and frowned. There had been absolute silence before the voice, so she knew she was hallucinating. She stood up then and looked around. "Who are you?"

She could tell the voice hesitated, but it was only for a moment. "Your humble servant, m'lady. M'lord Hades wishes for me to serve you during your stay."

"During my stay?" Frowning deeply she turned around to look for a body. But not only could she not see anyone, she couldn't even tell the sex. "I'm sorry, but can you please show yourself? You're making me rather uncomfortable at the moment."

A small creature peaked around the side of the table. Like the creature she had seen early, it was stringy but it was obviously a different species. The skin on this one was a dull red but was most definitely striking against the lack of colors in the room. Curvy horns crowned the top of its head and if it wasn't for its meek and reticent demeanor, she would have assumed it had some sort of regal blood. Which in itself was ridiculous. Creatures such as these had no such power.

"That's better." She slightly frowned slightly, and tilted her head to the side as she continued to stare at it. "What's your name?"

The creature seemed flabbergasted at being asked the question. It shifted its weight and stared at her for a moment before catching itself and bowed, quickly averting its eyes to her. "Please, m'lady, I am but your servant."

Persephone frowned at the creature, completely unaccustomed to such behavior. Having grown with nymphs, she had no servants. In fact, it wasn't until she began fraternizing with humans that this concept became known to her. "But don't you have a name?"

After another moment of silence, it replied. "Hermia, m'lady..."

Based on the name, Persephone allowed herself to assume that 'it' was a 'she.' "Tell me, Hermia, how long does Hades plan on keeping me prisoner here?"

Hermia's eyes widened and seemed taken aback yet again. No one dared to ever say the lord's name, let alone in his domain. "M-milord..."

Persephone had heard hushed stories of the king of the underworld and knew that he could be ruthless. This creature was obviously terrified over him and she had to deal with him on a semi-personal basis. Maybe she should re-think her position.

Or maybe not. "Nevermind. I think I already know my answer." She didn't, but she didn't want to stress the poor thing out. She could see the creature relax after the dismissal but continued to stand there in silence. Small talk was something she herself had no interest in, so she sat back down on the poor excuse of a bed. "Do you think I'll be able to sneak out of here? It's rather boring and I hate being confined like an animal."

Hermia seemed to slightly brighten and looked around the room. "Isn't it lovely, though? It's definitely th' most pretty. Milord chose the pieces himself, he did. The furniture was carved just for him."

Persephone frowned. Pretty? This creature had obviously never been out of here before. And what a shame that was too. "Uh, yeah... Sure. But any chance of me getting out?"

Hermia looked back up at her then and blinked. "Beggin' your pardon, m'lady, but you can go wherever you want, milord said. But would you be wantin your bath first?"

At the mention of a bath, Persephone sat up. "Yes, absolutely!" Hades had mentioned that he would send someone, but she didn't think he was all that serious about it. It would be uncharacteristic of him. Or, at least uncharacteristic of the malicious asshole that she knew him as. There definitely had to be a catch. It was probably cold.

She followed Hermia out of the room, which was a surprise to her. She had been expecting someone, or something, to bring in a tin. With mud. Certainly there would be no water down here. At least nothing clean. But, Hermes, was she wrong.

It took a bit of a walk, but Persephone soon stood in front of a spring. A steaming spring. A hot, muscle-ache-reliever spring. She didn't hesitate as she shrugged off her battered and torn clothing and slipped into the water, all but forgetting her surroundings and Hermia until the little servant spoke up.

"If it would please m'lady, I can gather some soaps and perfumes." Persephone opened her eyes, stunned for a moment. She was still taking in the fact that there was a spring down here. And yet Hermia had mentioned soap as well?

"You have soap?" She didn't mean to sound so disbelieving, but she was. It didn't seem to phase Hermia at all. Instead, the little creature looked delighted. If one could tell, at least.

"Oh yes! We have lots of different kinds, but they just keep on stacking up because no one wants to use them. At least, not all the time. Ya see, we don't really have any reason to use them but the just keep gettin' made and never used and it just keeps on stackin and..." she seemed to catch herself. Her skin turned a darker shade of red and she bowed, starting to back away with Pesephone's clothing. "I fergot m'place, m'lady. I'll be gettin' you some clean clothing too, m'lady." Without so much as another glance up, Hermia scampered off, leaving behind a perplexed Persephone.

But Hermia was definitely not what was most important to Persephone. She would rather be left alone to enjoy this little bit of pleasure and normalcy. Sinking underneath the water, she began to relax and think about the day's events.

She had been abducted. By Hades. Was that really true? No, of course not. What really had happened was, after she left Hera's party, she had fallen asleep. And, in doing so, she had slipped and fallen into water. Which made sense because she was under water now.

She came up for air then and coughed, having been under for too long. Well she was definitely alive, that was for sure. Pushing back her hair, she tentatively looked at her surroundings.

Well, so much for that theory. She was still surrounded by darkness. Except for the candles that flickered around, darkness and rocksides of the mountain she seemed to be in were really all that was around.

"I don't believe that I have ever met an immortal who tried to drown themselves before."

Persephone yelped at the sudden voice and turned to look to Hades, unconsciously covering her breasts under the bubbly water. "Go away!"

The god merely arched a brow at her. Certainly he had never come across anyone who told him what to do in his kingdom. Even Zeus didn't have the disrespect or balls for that matter.

When Hades made no obvious movement, she growled in frustration. Grabbing a stone while covering herself as best as she could, Persephone flung it towards him. And wasn't even close to hitting him. "I said go away!"

He smirked then and walked stealthily towards a group of flat stones and put down whatever it was that he was carrying. That she just now noticed. She moved as close to the side of the spring as she could with a scowl on her face in order to cover herself as best as she could. Normally she could care less if anyone saw her, let alone someone of the opposite sex, but she wasn't going to give this one the pleasure of seeing her nude.

"Soap?" He held the bar in his hand, it seeming to almost disappear as he held it. A blind person would be able to tell that he was huge, but she didn't realize it until he held that little bit of oil and flowers.

"No. Thank you. Your touch has most likely contaminated it." Hades smirked again and tossed it to her into the water.

"If so, the water is now contaminated. Perhaps you should get out before it infects you." His mock eyebrow and smirked bore into her, causing her to shiver. In a hot spring. What was up with that?

Defiantly, she grabbed the soap and turned her back to him, hoping he would go away if she ignored him. Moving lower in the water, she began to roughly scrub at her skin. "What am I doing here anyway?"

When the only response she got was the soft bubbling of the water, she turned to look over her shoulder to see if he was still there.

He was.

"Well? Are you going to answer me or stand there like a dim-wit?"

He stared at her in continued silence, his eyes slightly narrowing. "That's not the first time you have insulted me tonight. I'd advise you not to do it again, especially in front of my subjects."

She barked out a laugh at that and turned to face him. "Oh, well, excuse me, _your highness_. But first of all, I'm not one of your subjects and I most certainly am not here to stroke your ego. In fact, if I recall correctly, I have been harshly brought here against my will. As where I stand, I most certainly don't owe you any flattery."

"Where you stand, my dear, is in water. And it appears that I am within reach of any covering. And don't think that anyone here will help you. As for your purpose here, you will come to see that in time."

"I'm not your dear and I could care less about your threats. You can't do anything to me anyway because I won't be here for much longer. My mother will see to that."

"And how is that, _my dear_? No one comes and goes here unless I allow it. Even Zeus bows to me here."

She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that anger wasn't going to get her anywhere with him. "So what am I? A bargaining chip or something? I have little interest being a pawn to whatever game you are trying to play."

"If I wanted a pawn I would use someone of more importance. And someone who was more respectful at that."

"Oh! Well then I guess you're in for a treat then, aren't you? Because I could give a damn who you are. You're going to regret kidnapping me. I'm going to make you miserable because we both know you can' t keep me under lock and key."

Hades smirked yet again. He was already miserable so how would she make anything different? "Anything you do would be an amusement, sweet, not grief."

She returned the smirk. "Then I guess I'll get the pleasure of proving you wrong."

He laughed softly then, obviously doubting her. Persephone wouldn't doubt at all that this man rarely laughed; it didn't seem to fit him. "Should you succeed, you'll be the first."

"Great. I'll make you wish that you never even thought of taking me and you'll be begging me to go back."

"I har-" He was cut off for the first time in centuries because of shock. He watched as Persephone lifted herself from the water and started towards him. His eyes instantly locked to her breasts. Slick from water, they were perky, plump, and fleshy, not at all like the souls that were stuck down here. It had been a long time since he had seen a nude woman, but not for lack of want. He had lost interest in bedding women: it was too repetitive and he was simply annoyed with the reactions he received from them.

But now that he did have a woman, nude and wet in front of him, his body thought otherwise. He turned around as she neared the towel he had brought but whether it was because of respect to her or because he didn't want her to see any obvious physiological reactions, even he didn't know. Still stunned, he forced himself to act as if she hadn't effected him. "No shame."

He could sense her smugness as she patted herself dry. He found himself suddenly envying that piece of cloth. "Why should I? I am nothing but proud of my body." She flashed a grin at the back of his head as she slipped on the modest clothing that he had brought and silently dared him to say something. She had no idea what his reaction would be, but him being embarrassed was a total plus in her book. Persephone, score. "Wouldn't you agree?"

For the first time in his life, Hades was unable to make a response. He stayed quiet, embarrassment and thusly anger brewing inside. How was it that a simple female left him speechless? Could it be possible that he had made a mistake?

Doubtful.

"As you have been told, you have full reign to go wherever you want. I'd advise you not to go into the rivers, but if you choose to ignore me, then it will be your own curse. And do try and keep your clothes on here. Unlike you above-ground creatures, those down here will not hesitate to do what they wish to other species." With that, he stalked away to go lick his wound and figure out exactly why she was here in the first place.

And the sooner he knew that answer, the sooner she would serve her purpose. And then the sooner she would be gone.


End file.
